Art History

The Art History program in the Department of Art and Visual Culture at Mills takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of art and the visual world. We offer lectures and seminars in western, non-western, and modern and contemporary art. In addition to training students in the history of art and visual culture, our curriculum emphasizes the development of strong critical thinking and communication skills to prepare our graduates for advanced degree programs and careers in the art world and beyond. Many of our students combine the degree in art history with a minor or double major in diverse fields including chemistry, computer science, studio art, economics, and psychology. In recent years, our students have successfully pursued internships and careers at museums, auction houses, art education programs, and galleries. Graduates have also been admitted to competitive advanced degree programs in a variety of disciplines.

Our close relationship with the Mills College Art Museum enhances the student experience. Our Museum Studies Workshop gives advanced students the opportunity to curate all aspects of an exhibition under the guidance of the Museum director. The Museum supports classroom teaching and provides many students with hands-on experience in all phases of museum work, including curatorial duties, installation, and cataloging. Our students also benefit from several endowed programs. Special courses are regularly offered under the auspices of the Denise Beirnes Studies in Art History Endowment. Each year, the Jane Green Endowment for Studies in Art History and Criticism brings a distinguished scholar to campus to give a public lecture and classroom presentation. Students are encouraged to take advantage of our annual studio art lecture series and to participate in the many cultural events across campus throughout the year, including concerts, performances, and museum exhibitions.

Program Goals:

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches.

Major

Minor

This survey course explores major developments in the history of western art from prehistory through the early Renaissance. We will focus particular attention on questions of continuity and change in visual culture, asking how and why western artists innovated upon, borrowed from, transformed, or rejected the visual tradition of their predecessors and contemporaries.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Introduced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Introduced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Introduced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced)

Students will read, study, and analyze primary and secondary written sources and images. In a written assignment, they will evaluate a primary written source for evidence of authorial bias and explain how the author's point of view impacts the reliability of his evidence and conclusions. In a written assignment, students will also critically analyze a work of art from multiple points of view, demonstrating their understanding of the fact that a naturalistic work of art, however realistic, is a constructed representation meant to express meaning rather than a reflection of an authentic reality.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced)

In discussions and exams, students will analyze a work of art both from our own 21st-century perspective and from the perspective of the culture that created the work, and will be able to explain how later cultures responded to the art of the past. For instance, students will examine how the judgment of a 16th-century Italian regarding art produced by 15th-century northern European painters was shaped by his own cultural values; they will engage in feminist readings of pre-modern images; and they will consider how different contexts (the church, the museum, the domestic setting, etc.) can alter the meanings produced by works of art.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced)

In class discussions, students will explore how dominant ideas regarding beauty and artistic talent that were developed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries still persist in today's discourse regarding art and culture, and will articulate how those ideas shape their own responses to works of art.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced)

In class discussions and a quiz on course readings, students will explore how different theoretical and methodological approaches to interpretation (such as iconography, stylistic analysis, and the concept of the period eye) shape our understanding of individual works of art and the cultures that produce them. Students will be able to articulate how scholars examining works from a variety of perspectives ask different questions and arrive at different answers regarding the significance of a work of art.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced)

In papers, students will employ scholarly research methods, assessing the reliability of their sources and properly acknowledging all sources used.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced)

Students will be graded in part on their class participation and their active intellectual contribution to the class discussion of images and readings. Students will also attend at least one art-related College event, such as a lecture in the Studio Art Lecture Series; the Jane Green Lecture; an art world networking event; a performance; or an art museum opening.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will extend their own creative skills by studying and analyzing modes of art-making and the power of visual rhetoric from cave art through the Renaissance, and through the exploration of media such as fresco, tempera, oil painting, printmaking, and sculpture.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced)

In a paper, students will produce an independent interpretation of a work of art that is both original and also historically grounded, and that evaluates the work in light of the art theory and criticism of the period in which the work was created.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Past and current characterizations of non-naturalistic art are often plagued by the anachronistic application of aesthetic criteria developed in the Renaissance. In a paper or class discussion, students will evaluate how these sixteenth-century art theories continue to shape and constrain popular perceptions and evaluations of creative success, and will seek to correct these biases by proposing and applying critical approaches that evaluate works according to more appropriate criteria.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

In discussions and a written assignment, students will explain the relationship between a work of art and the aesthetic criteria of the culture that created it. In doing so, students will demonstrate an understanding of the fact that cultural values and concepts of beauty are not absolute or unchanging, and they will articulate how our own cultural values differ from those of past societies.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced)

In a paper or in short exam essays, students will situate a work of art within the religious, political, economic, and/or cultural climate of the culture that produced it, and explain how the work of art functioned within this context. In discussions, students will explain how the aesthetic preferences, creative and artistic technologies, and ideologies of these cultures differ from our own. Works will be drawn from a range of cultures and regions, including pre-Christian (pagan, Egyptian, Mesopotamian), western Christian, eastern Christian, Islamic, and Jewish cultures of Europe, north Africa, and the Near East.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Exams will test students' knowledge of how the religious beliefs and experiences of early adherents of Christianity and Islam impacted the form and significance of the art that these peoples produced in western Europe and the near east. Students will be able to articulate the basic tenets of each of these religions and explain how the visual culture of different peoples intersects with religious principles and beliefs.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Exams will test students' knowledge of the primary media, artistic technologies, artists, and major artworks of a variety of past western cultures, including Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures; ancient Greece and Rome; early Christian, early Jewish, Byzantine, and Islamic cultures; and European medieval and Renaissance cultures. They will explore works from across western Europe as well as monuments in modern-day Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Turkey.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced, Practiced)

Each student will perform a written visual analysis, involving detailed and specific consideration of how an artist composes a work of art and what creative choices are made to arrive at expression of an idea, narrative, or meaning.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be familiar with the major media of European art, including sculpture, painting (tempera, oil, fresco), printmaking (woodcut and engraving) and some architecture. Through study of the formal qualities of works as the basis of deriving both intended and unintended meanings, students will analyze form, device and gesture.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will use in-class free-writes and discussions to develop a descriptive vocabulary; identification and analysis of particularly challenging passages from readings will encourage development of a critical vocabulary.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool
of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and
contrasting two or more images, in which
form, style, period, medium, must be
taken into consideration.

Students will be able to relate works of art of the European tradition to key political, economic, and cultural changes in Europe, including: the fall of the Roman Empire; the rise of the city-states and humanism; the rise of absolutism; the Reformation and Counter-Reformation; the rise of a new popular audience for art; the influence of the printing press.

Students will be able to problematize and question the role of the classical tradition in the art of post-classical Europe.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works
of art from different eras and for different
purposes. Recognition of connections (and ruptures) between past and present will be encouraged in class discussion in particular.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced, Practiced)

Through reading a range of scholarship on European art, students will be able to assess differences in method between older and newer scholarship, and will be encouraged to both characterize those methods and to address the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Students will read both primary and secondary materials, and discern the differences between them; they will read sources for evidence of authorial bias; they will discuss the ways in which standards for research and evidence have changed over time. Students will use all sources carefully, especially the Internet, will recognize and value juried scholarship, and will acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 019: Introduction to Western Art II (3 Credits)

This survey course introduces students to the history of western art from the Renaissance through the twentieth century. We will explore the style, function, and meaning of western art in context, examine the development of new genres and techniques, and discuss art theory and criticism.

Meets the following Gen Ed requirements: Creation and Criticism in the Arts, Historical Perspectives

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Introduced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Introduced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Introduced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced)

Students will be guided through the various goals and styles of modernist art-making, and this will lead to an understanding of the fundamentals of visual creativity.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced)

Students will use the basic tools of art history to analyze and compare artworks made at various times and locations during the two centuries covered by the course in class discussions, and written work.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced)

Students will be able to use the basic tools of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, and medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will be able to look at art works from various moments in the art of the last two centuries, and be able to place it in its specific time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and art made for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced)

Through reading a range of scholarship produced during the late 18th-early 21st century students will be able to assess differences in method between older and newer scholarship, and characterize those methods as well as address the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Introduced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts.

Students will understand the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia. They will value juried scholarship, and will acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 034: Museum Studies Workshop (3 Credits)

This course will engage students in questions about the role of art museums as well as conceptual and logistical aspects of curatorial practices. In addition to weekly readings and written assignments, students will be expected to attend exhibitions and lectures in the San Francisco Bay Area. The final project will be a group-curated exhibition with an accompanying student researched and written exhibition catalogue.

Early Indian art celebrates Buddhism and Hinduism. The Buddhist stupas at Sanchi and the cave temples at Ajanta are studied, and the complex Buddhist theology that comprises the Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhist world culminates in the making of mandalas. The development of temple architecture and sculpture made for the Hindu gods at Elephanta, Ellora, and Mamallapuram, and the mediaeval temples at Khajurao and Orissa are studied. Hindu theology and the development of Buddhism and Jainism is studied in order to understand the meaning and purpose of early Indian art.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Introduced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Introduced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Introduced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and made for different purposes, e.g. Buddhist art that is distinct from Hindu art.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians, particularly colonial perspectives, with contemporary theories, especially those that that emerged in the second half of the 20th Century.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced)

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced)

Students will collaborate and work together to create mandalas and bhadrachakras in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These will be installed in the gallery in the Art Building, and in the Art Museum courtyard, for the Mills community to engage with.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will design and create mandalas (sacred circles) and bhadrachakras (wheels of becoming), adhering to established esoteric Buddhist guidelines. Students are encouraged to incorporate contemporary technology in their creative work, and also to include observations and references in our present geo-political world. Some of the projects will be collaborative, others will require students to create their own works of art. The finished artworks are displayed in the gallery for public viewing in the Art Building.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be provided with guidelines to create Buddhist mandalas and bhadrachakras (see previous description). The guidelines provide the basic foundation upon which the students create their own personal diagrams, which can be drawn, painted, computer-generated, three-dimensional works, or performance based interactive productions; all of this requires independent thinking, originality and inventiveness.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Through the making of their creative diagrams, students will learn to recognize the power of iconic symbolism that can influence ways of thinking from religious, cultural, social and political viewpoints, and how such symbols can be used to address real-world problems.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

Through reading, research, and visual analysis, students will come to understand that Indian culture is distinct and different from other Asian cultures, and in turn is different from American culture. Students will come to acknowledge and respect that there are multiple interpretations of cultures, religions and values.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will be able to look at an image from the early Indus Valley period (3,000 BCE) through the 12th century CE, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made. Students will recognize the religious arts of Buddhism and Hinduism, and their distinct practices that are different from religious, social and cultural experiences in the West and the United States.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Students will be immersed in the earliest history and culture of India, Nepal and Tibet. They will study early Vedic traditions, Buddhism and its esoteric tantric developments in the Himalayas, and the religious art of Hinduism that continues to be made and practiced today.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Students will be immersed in the study of the early art of India. They will study in depth Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism, and the later tantric forms of Vajrayana and Lamaism practiced in Nepal and Tibet. They will be able to distinguish between Hindu art and architecture and Buddhist art and architecture, in both instances the art and monuments informed distinct religions and rituals.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced)

Each student will engage in the creative process by creating a Buddhist mandala or yantra (diagram) following the instructions for iconography and attributes, and, through the process, will understand how a work of art comes into being.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced)

Students will recognize the Sanskrit terms for religious and secular imagery and demonstrate confidence in their powers of expression by utilizing an "Art Language" (iconography) that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced)

Students will be able to use the basic tools of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Indian period, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made a thousand or more years ago and understand why this is significant from an art historical perspective.

Students will know about forgeries, copies and appropriations and gain an awareness of the ethics concerning these issues.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced)

Through reading critically resources that were written prior to India's Independence (1947), students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of the colonial rulers of India and other Western powers with writings of the late 20th and early 21st century.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Introduced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts.

Students will understand the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Multicultural Perspectives

Demonstrate understanding of culture and cultural identities as dynamic rather than fixed categories, and describe the diverse ways in which they are produced, transformed, and maintained (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will understand the intersections of multiple cultures that interacted historically along the Central Asian trade routes, and the roles of Eastern and Western values, thought, philosophies, and religious beliefs upon the formation of the indigenous values and beliefs of South Asia. Students will recognize that South Asian society has historically absorbed and embraced populations from all over the world due to its position at the center of major international trade routes. Students will also observe that South Asia continues to struggle with issues of identity, cultural, religious and racial differences to this day.

Describe how two or more ethnic groups have interacted in different historical contexts, and be able to discuss the dynamics of that relationship (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will understand how and why Buddhism developed and the tensions that evolved between the existing values of indigenous Brahmanism. They will know that Buddhism was largely promoted by Central Asians who came to South Asia as conquerors and used religion as a political tool. Students will also be able to discuss the demise of Buddhism in the face of Muslim incursions, and why Brahmanism (Hinduism) survived.

Deploy the necessary critical tools to reflect on the artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions of marginalized groups-both nationally and internationally-and to appreciate the diversity of human thought and experience (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to analyze indigenous forms of iconic production as representing aesthetic values of South Asia. They will understand the role of sacred ritual icons and objects made for temple worship and also those made by tribal groups who to this day have maintained animistic views of the world. Students will be knowledgeable about the power of Devi, the female principle of the universe, and how and why women have been marginalized in much of South Asian society. They will see how the feminine is manifested in local forms of the goddess and resonates in the popular conscience.

ARTH 082: Introduction to Asian Art: China (3 Credits)

Recent archaeological excavations in China are providing new evidence for reinterpreting the past. In this course we study ancient bronze vessels and jades unearthed from Shang and Zhou tombs, and ceramic armies from the Qin and Han periods. Buddhist art and the role of priests and merchants who travelled the Silk Road, and Calligraphy and scroll paintings from the Six Dynasties to the Sung and Yuan periods are studied. The teachings of Confucian and Taoist philosophy are studied in order to understand how these belief systems inform the cultural and aesthetic values of China.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Introduced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Introduced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Introduced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced)

The foundations of the discipline of art history are built upon the ability to analyze works of art through stylistic and formal visual comparison, historical and political knowledge, and cultural and religious awareness. Students will learn to contextual art as a reflection of the social circumstances in which it was made. They will learn how to research, write about, and present their work.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced)

In this course students study the influences of Confucianism and Taoism on ancient Chinese culture, and the impact of the Indian religion of Buddhism that was introduced from Central Asia. They will learn how foreign ideas developed alongside indigenous practices, how they were embraced and also resisted. Tensions exist into the 21st century between the main philosophies of China, added to which is the current Communist ethos.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced)

In this course students study the art, politics and social thought of the Ancient China from the Neolithic period through the Yuan Period (c. 10,000 bce--c. 1250 ce). They will study writings and translations of texts by Western and Chinese scholars. this will introduce them to the realization that diverse peoples see and experience virtually everything differently.
Students will learn about the impact of foreign ideas on indigenous practices, both the acceptance of, and resistance to such influences, and the resulting syncretisms.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians, particularly colonial perspectives, with contemporary theories, especially those that emerged in the second half of the 20th Century.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced)

Students will engage in research on art from the Zhang and Zhou periods. In order to do this they will visit the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, write a research paper and present it orally at Mills, together with digital images.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will engage in hands-on projects designing Han Dynasty tombs, and will furnish them to reflect the social and cultural status of their occupants: Imperial, scholars, or merchants. Some of the projects will be collaborative, others will require students to create their own works of art.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced)

Students will engage in Chinese calligraphic projects that will require them to think creatively and learn to control the brush. The will also be asked to conceptualize ways in which calligraphy can be used in different spaces for different purposes. (Knowledge of Chinese is not required, however, students will recognize different styles of calligraphy.)

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Students will recognize the power of visual symbols. Through the use of image and calligraphy, they will produce works that can present ideas in public platforms, following Maoist intentions.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

Through reading, research, and visual analysis, students will come to understand that Chinese culture is distinct and different from other Asian cultures, and in turn is different from American culture. Students will come to acknowledge and respect that there are multiple interpretations of cultures, religions, and values.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will receive an in depth knowledge of early Chinese culture through studying Confucian and Taoist philosophies that have provided the foundation for the culture, social systems, and values. Visual analysis of early calligraphy and tomb artifacts found in recent archaeological excavations will give students insights into the world's oldest continuous civilization. Students will appreciate ancient rituals and celebrations that are still relevant in Chinese society in the 21st century. The comparison of the developing values of a young country such as the United States with ancient Chinese culture will provide ways of understanding different ways of thinking and diversity.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Chinese period, and be able to place it in a dynastic timeframe, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made. Students will recognize the distinctive art of China that is so different from that made in the United States.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced)

Students will be immersed in the earliest history and culture of China. They will study the roots of indigenous animistic rituals and art that evolved from native Taoist thought, to be followed by the secular ideas and teachings of Confucius that continue to be practiced today. They will also study the introduction of Buddhism from India, Central Asia, and Tibet, and how it became distinctly Chinese through the worship of Guanyin..

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced)

Each student will engage in the creative process by producing calligraphic examples of the three significant Chinese styles of writing, in order to understand how a work of art comes into being.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to recognize the distinct mediums and capacities of bronze, ceramics and paintings and be able to recognize and describe the use of form and gesture in painting and sculpture.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will know and understand the basic Chinese terms for the objects being studied and demonstrate confidence in their powers of expression by utilizing an "Art Language" that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Chinese period, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made a thousand or more years ago and understand why this is significant from an art historical perspective

Students will know about forgeries, copies and appropriations and gain an awareness of the ethics concerning these issues.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced, Practiced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to the Communist Revolution (1947), students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early Chinese scholars with those of later scholars writing in the 20th and early 21st century.

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Multicultural Perspectives

Demonstrate understanding of culture and cultural identities as dynamic rather than fixed categories, and describe the diverse ways in which they are produced, transformed, and maintained (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will understand how Han (Chinese) culture has from the beginning of time absorbed constant incursions from Central Asia and the Pacific. They will also understand the development of Han identity that resists and is antagonistic to non-Han peoples through the production of art found in tombs, and most significantly the historical reasons for building and maintaining the Great Walls.

Describe how two or more ethnic groups have interacted in different historical contexts, and be able to discuss the dynamics of that relationship (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will understand why the ethnic Han (Chinese) fought the invading Central Asian Turks who used Buddhism to legitimize and establish themselves in a Confucian and Taoist culture. Students will also understand why later the Tang Empress Wu, adopted Buddhism, an alien religion in her attempt to overcome Confucian patriarchy. The students will be familiar with this pattern of resistance when they study the invasions of the Central Asian Mongols in the Yuan period, and how the Mongols tried to assimilate.

Deploy the necessary critical tools to reflect on the artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions of marginalized groups-both nationally and internationally-and to appreciate the diversity of human thought and experience (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be knowledgeable about the dynamic presence of the Parthians and Central Asians in China as early as the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou (c. 480-222 BCE); students will be able to analyze and recognize how the Central Asians transformed bronze production, introducing new technologies and aesthetic forms that reflected their nomadic backgrounds. Students will read Confucian and Taoist texts and will understand the universal principles set out in them, and will acknowledge the diversity of thought in China that has prevailed.

ARTH 121: The Italian Renaissance (4 Credits)

This course selectively examines the visual culture of the Italian Renaissance in central Italy, focusing on major developments in Italian painting, sculpture, and architecture between 1400 and the 1580s in Florence and Rome. We will take a genre-based approach, closely linking the form of objects with their function and meaning within contemporary Italian society. Artists discussed include Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Parmigianino, Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Giambologna, Giulio Romano, and many others.

Note(s): First Year students may enroll with approval of instructor and academic advisor.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In in-class exercises, students will develop their own plausible interpretations and reconstructions of works of art, using both visual skills and cultural knowledge to explain how a work of art originally looked, how it originally produced meaning, and how we as later viewers shape the new meanings it produces. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of art as a constructed object whose meanings are shaped by its context and by its viewers.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast the interpretations of several different scholars regarding complex works of art (such as Cellini's Perseus and Medusa or Donatello's Judith and Holofernes), considering traditional and more recent critical approaches to interpretation.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will examine critically the theoretical and art historical writings of two authors of the Florentine Renaissance, Leon Battista Alberti (1435) and Giorgio Vasari (1568), in light of contemporary art historical and interdisciplinary methods of analysis, reading with attention to authorial bias and context. Students will evaluate how these writers' ideas about beauty and genius still inform much art discourse today.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In studying the interpretations of several different scholars regarding complex works of art, students will be able to explain how the questions we ask of a work of art shape its meaning and significance.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and authorial bias.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced)

Students will attend an art exhibit and discuss their experience with other members of the community.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced, Practiced)

In readings and lectures, students will closely study works produced in a variety of media used in the Renaissance (fresco, tempera, oil painting, bronze casting, marble and stone sculpture, arch and dome construction) and will understand the cultural and intellectual trends underlying key artistic/architectural innovations of the period (linear perspective, classicism, naturalism in painting and sculpture, the study of anatomy, contrapposto, etc.). In a paper, students will demonstrate the ability to articulately explain these innovations and use examples to demonstrate their impact on the visual arts.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

In a paper or in-class exercise, students will produce an independent interpretation of a complex work of art, drawing upon primary sources of the period and the formal characteristics of the work itself to develop an original, historically plausible argument regarding the work's significance.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced, Practiced)

In a class project, students will grapple with the problem of the disassembly and dispersal of the components of a complex work of art (a polyptych altarpiece). They will study the work's parts, propose a plausible digital reconstruction of the original, integral object, argue persuasively for their proposed reconstruction, and provide an interpretation of the work as a whole.

Renaissance art historians often attempt to reconstruct an artist's working methods and creative process through the study of drawings. In a class project, students will explore Renaissance modes of art production by closely studying a group of preparatory drawings made by Raphael Sanzio. They will independently develop a plausible argument regarding the order of production of the drawings and the role they played in the artist's conception and production of the final work.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Practiced)

Students will engage in the creative process in class discussions and in written work by analyzing artworks to show how the visual elements work to create artistic form and content.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Practiced)

Students will demonstrate in class discussions and written work their understanding of artistic concepts by analyzing paintings, sculptures, and buildings made in central Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Practiced)

In class discussions, written work, and exams, students will use the basic tools of art history to analyze, interpret, and compare artworks made in central Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Practiced)

In discussions and written work, students will identify and compare the range of styles characteristic of art produced in central Italy during the Renaissance.

In class discussions and written work, students will be able to identify a visual image made in central Italy during the Renaissance, and will be able to contextualize the cultural and artistic enviornment in which it was produced.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made in central Italy during the Renaissance by analyzing the similarities and differences in their stylistic features and placing them in their appropriate historical periods.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Students will examine critically the theoretical and art historical writings of two authors of the Florentine Renaissance, Leon Battista Alberti (1435) and Giorgio Vasari (1568), in light of contemporary art historical and interdisciplinary methods of analysis.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work.

ARTH 122: Art in Venice between East and West (4 Credits)

The Republic of Venice was a cultural crossroads between east and west. This course introduces students to the splendor of Venetian visual culture between the ninth and the seventeenth centuries, emphasizing the ways in which the Republic drew from both eastern and western artistic traditions to craft and reinforce an image of itself as a miraculous, eternal, and devout city. Key artists include the Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. Assignments will encourage students to develop their own visual, critical, rhetorical, interpretive, and creative skills.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In in-class exercises, students will develop their own plausible interpretations and reconstructions of works of art, using both visual skills and cultural knowledge to explain how a work of art originally looked, how it originally produced meaning, and how we as later viewers shape the new meanings it produces. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of art as a constructed object whose meanings are shaped by its context and by its viewers.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast the interpretations of several different scholars regarding complex works of art (such as Titian's Presentation of the Virgin), considering traditional and more recent critical approaches to interpretation.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will reflect upon the connections and differences between current scholarship on Venetian art and culture and the Venetians' own view of their world, thinking carefully about what modes of art-making and artistic subject matters reveal about a society's interests, values, and beliefs. Students will also consider how Venetian art is characterized and used today.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In studying the interpretations of several different scholars regarding complex works of art, students will be able to explain how the questions we ask of a work of art shape its meaning and significance. Students will also compare the views of Venice provided in texts by non-Venetians, reading with attention to authorial bias.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and authorial bias.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will participate fully in in-class discussions and exercises, sharing their thoughts, opinions, and learnings with their classmates and contributing to the group's analysis and interpretation of works of art.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will extend their creative skills by studying and analyzing both the theory and practice of creative modes of the past to gain an understanding of significance of disegno (drawing) and colore (color, the application of paint) in the training of Venetian artists.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced)

Instead of relying on the interpretations of other scholars, students will demonstrate their ability to synthesize and apply learnings from primary and secondary sources to develop original, thoughtful, historically grounded interpretations of works of art.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Through the close study of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century art theory and readings on the economic and social constraints on artists, students will gain an understanding of how social, economic, and political systems constrain or encourage the production of certain kinds of art, and will be able to use that knowledge to correct biases in our understanding of the role of the artist and the nature of creative genius both in the past and in the present.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced, Practiced)

In analyzing images and texts produced in medieval and Renaissance Venice, students will compare and contrast the modes of representation, political/religious/economic ideologies, and ideas about beauty and genius of the Renaissance and the present day.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the study of both textual and visual constructions of the so-called “Myth of Venice”, students will gain an understanding of how art has been used to support political regimes and to silence or completely disenfranchise peoples who did not meet strict criteria based on national origin, religion, and social/economic status.

Students will study Venice’s so-called “orientalist” period, in which the city’s art and architecture were shaped by the influence of its diverse population of traders, merchants, and diplomats from the near east, and will understand the political, social, and religious factors that led to a shift towards a more classicizing mode of visual rhetoric in the arts.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will demonstrate deep knowledge of the art of medieval and Renaissance Venice, including its intersections with technology, religion, economy, politics, and other aspects of culture.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study and discuss the art and art theory of Venice, including both works of visual art and major writings on art from the period under consideration.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Practiced)

Students will engage in the creative process in class discussion and written work by analyzing artworks to show how the visual elements (line, shape, color, space, etc.) work to create artistic form and content. Students will produce a final assignment in which they exercise their own creative vision to produce a project that draws upon course learnings.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Practiced)

Students will demonstrate their understanding of artistic and architectural concepts by analyzing works of Venetian visual culture in class discussions, oral reports and written assignments.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Practiced)

In class discussions, written work and exams, students will use the basic tools of art history to analyze and compare artworks made in Venice between the late middle ages and the early seventeenth century.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Practiced)

Students will identify correctly and compare the similarities and differences between the styles of the late middle ages, the Venetian Renaissance, and the early Baroque period. Students will also gain familiarity with and identify the similarities and differences between Venetian style and the style of central Italy.

In class discussions and written work, students will be able to identify a visual image made in late medieval or early modern Venice and contextualize the cultural and artistic enviornment in which it was produced.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made in Renaissance Venice by analyzing the similarities and differences in their stylistic features and placing them in their appropriate historical periods.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Students will critically examine works of sixteenth-century Italian art theory and criticism (provided in English translation), in light of contemporary art historical and interdisciplinary methods of analysis.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in oral reports and written work.

ARTH 123: Northern European Art (4 Credits)

This course examines the art of northern Europe from about 1350 to 1580, focusing on painting and print-making in Germany and the Low Countries. We will explore developments in artistic technologies (oil painting, new print-making techniques, the development of paper) and discuss key themes raised in the scholarship of northern art, such as art and religious reform; illusionism; and the representation of women.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will develop their own plausible interpretations of works of art, using both visual skills and cultural knowledge to explain how the work originally produced meaning, and how we as later viewers shape the new meanings it produces. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of art as a constructed object whose meanings are shaped by its context and by its viewers.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast the methodological approaches and conclusions of different scholars analyzing a work of art, and will explain how these approaches differ from one another and how the work would have been viewed within the culture that produced it.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explore the question of how images convey meaning in Flemish painting, and will critically analyze early and more recent art historical interpretations of a major work of art (such as Panofsky's theory of "disguised symbolism" in Flemish art and more recent methodological approaches).

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast the methodological approaches and conclusions of different scholars analyzing a work of art, and will explain how these approaches differ from one another and how the work would have been viewed within the culture that produced it.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and authorial bias.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will contribute to the classroom as an intellectual community by engaging regularly in class discussions of readings and works of art.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will study creative developments in northern Europe, and will exercise their own creative abilities to design a "virtual collection" that proposes a consistent theme or approach and supports that theme using works on paper drawn from the period under study.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

In a paper or exam essay, students will exercise their own skills in close looking and analysis to develop and support a plausible, fresh, and independent interpretation of a work of art.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Students will grapple with the problem of building a strong teaching collection through a "virtual collector" assignment that asks them to balance budget constraints to amass a group of northern European prints. Using auction data and staying within budget constraints, each student will propose a set of prints for virtual purchase, explaining how these prints exemplify the artistic and cultural trends that define this period.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast their own response to Flemish painting with that of Michelangelo (an Italian) and a northern European 15th-century viewer, and will explore how and why different cultures develop different notions of artistic achievement and beauty.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explain how notions of artistic achievement and beauty differ between our present society and Europe in the middle ages and the Renaissance.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will demonstrate deep knowledge of the art of Renaissance Europe, including its intersections with technology, religion, economy, politics, and other aspects of culture.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study and discuss the art and art theory of major European artists in the Renaissance, and will be able to articulate continuities and ruptures with previous centuries.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced)

Each student will read a primary source text on witches, choosing passages to relate to contemporary depictions of the subject. In so doing, they will imaginatively enter the anxieties and superstitions of an earlier time, and investigate how and why those ideas took visual form.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be familiar with the major forms of the pictorial arts used in the Northern Renaissance, including oil and tempera painting, woodcut and engraving. Analysis of subjects repeatedly depicted in Northern Renaissance art will allow close consideration of form, device and gesture as shaped by different artists depicting the same subjects.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will use in-class free-writes to develop a descriptive vocabulary; identification and analysis of particularly challenging passages from readings will encourage development of a critical vocabulary.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and
contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into
consideration.

Students will be able to relate works of art of the Northern Renaissance to the struggles of the Reformation and the shifting power of the Habsburg Dynasty; the influence of the Italian Renaissance and the humanist tradition; the rise of a new popular audience for art; the development of a merchant middle class.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different
purposes. Recognition of connections (and ruptures) between past and present will be encouraged.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Through reading a range of scholarship on Northern Renaissance art, students will be able to assess differences in method between older and newer scholarship, and characterize those methods as well as address the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Practiced)

Students will read both primary and secondary materials, and be able to differentiate between them; they will be able to identify evidence of authorial bias. Students will use all sources carefully, especially the Internet, will recognize and value juried scholarship, and will acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 124: Baroque Art in Europe (4 Credits)

Despite war and religious upheaval, the seventeenth century in Europe was a period of remarkable cultural flourishing and new artistic opportunities. Focusing on painting in Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, this course examines European visual culture in the age of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Diego Velazquez, and Peter Paul Rubens. Themes will include the changing status of the artist, creative opportunities for women, theories of artistic achievement in the 17th century, and the development of new genres like landscape and still life.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will develop their own plausible interpretations of works of art, using both visual skills and cultural knowledge to explain how the work originally produced meaning, and how we as later viewers shape the new meanings it produces. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of art as a constructed object whose meanings are shaped by its context and by its viewers.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the close study of texts produced by different artists and art theorists, students will examine how various groups defined and measured artistic achievement, and will explore how their positions relate to broader cultural trends.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will examine the theoretical and art historical writings of artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Francisco Pacheco, and others, reading with attention to authorial bias and context, to understand how these writers' notions of originality and beauty in art differ from present notions of artistic achievement.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In studying the interpretations of several different scholars regarding complex works of art (for instance, traditional vs. feminist approaches), students will be able to explain how the questions we ask of a work of art shape its meaning and significance.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and authorial bias.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will contribute to the classroom as an intellectual community by engaging regularly in in-class discussions of readings and works of art.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study creative developments in Europe in the seventeenth century, and will exercise their own creative abilities in designing a virtual exhibition that proposes a novel theme and supports that theme using works of art drawn from the period under study.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

In a research paper, students will exercise their own skills in close looking and analysis to develop and support a plausible, fresh, and independent interpretation of a work of art.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Scholars struggle with how to define the art of a period as complex and multifaceted as the seventeenth century in Europe. Students will grapple with this problem in a "virtual exhibition" assignment, developing a coherent theme that brings together works from multiple countries to express each student's own understanding of the cultural trends that define this period.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

In analyzing images and texts produced in Europe during the seventeenth century, students will recognize that modes of representation, notions of masculinity and femininity, political/religious/economic ideologies, and ideas about beauty and genius in different parts of Baroque Europe differ from one another and from the present day.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will apply Baroque art theory to the interpretation and analysis of a Baroque work of art, and will contrast that analysis with the approach of present-day scholars and artists.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will demonstrate knowledge of the social, religious, and political experiences of seventeenth-century Spanish, Dutch, Italian, and French peoples, and will be able to relate those experiences to the art that these cultures produced.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study and discuss the art and art theory of major European artists in the seventeenth century, and will be able to articulate continuities and ruptures with previous centuries.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will respond to scholarly readings by consulting their own visual analysis, and by assessing artistic intent.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will use reading responses and a longer paper to develop a descriptive vocabulary; identification and analysis of particularly challenging passages from readings will encourage development of a critical vocabulary.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool
of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and
contrasting two or more images, in which
form, style, period, medium, must be
taken into consideration.

Students will be able to relate works of art of Baroque art to the struggles of the Counter-Reformation and the shifting power of European cultural and political elites; the influence of the Italian Renaissance; the development of popular and middle-class audiences for art; the creation of artistic identity in the Baroque.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works
of art from different eras and for different
purposes. Recognition of connections (and ruptures) between past and present will be encouraged in class discussion in particular.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced, Practiced)

Through reading a range of scholarship on Baroque art, students will be able to assess differences in method between older and newer scholarship, and will be encouraged to both characterize those methods and to address the strengths and weaknesses of each.

This course explores the visual culture of medieval Spain, from the age of Muslim rule through the Christian re-conquest of the Iberian peninsula. We will study painting, illuminated manuscripts, architecture, and sculpture produced by Sephardic Jews, Muslims, and Spanish Christians. A major theme of the course is the use of the visual arts to define self versus “other” in a diverse society; as we move from an age of tolerance to one of tumult and forcible expulsion, how did the peoples of medieval Spain use art to shape their identities, to delimit communities, and to define one another?

Meets the following Core requirements: International Perspectives, Race, Gender & Power

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Core Goals:

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced, Practiced)

In analyzing images and texts produced in medieval Spain, students will compare and contrast the modes of representation and political/religious/economic ideologies of different ethnic, religious, and social groups, including Spanish Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will analyze the art and culture of Spain through 1492 using images and primary sources (poetry, literature, letters, official documents, etc.) and will be able to articulate how the aesthetic and cultural values of this society differs from our own.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and exams, students will demonstrate deep knowledge of the art and culture of Spanish Christians, Muslims, and Jews prior to 1492.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study the art and literature of Spanish Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and be able to synthesize lectures, readings, and images to articulately discuss the cultural achievements of each of these groups.

Race, Gender & Power

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the study of the visual culture of medieval Iberian Arabs, European Christians, and Jews, students will analyze race and gender as social constructs, and will explore how visual representations functioned to support or challenge the power structures of ruling groups.

Students will analyze the ways in which race and gender intersect with other identity categories including sexuality, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, citizenship and nationality. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the study of images of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish men and women produced on the Iberian peninsula, students will analyze how constructs of race intersect with religious beliefs and values, ethnic identities, and concepts of masculinity and femininity.

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the ways that marginalized communities have resisted structures of power through social movements, civic engagement, artistic expression, and scholarship. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will analyze the literary and artistic output of Sephardic Jews, a marginalized community under both Christian and Muslim rule, as well as the visual and literary culture of Conversos (Jews who converted to Christianity), to explore how these communities maintained their own religious, cultural, and visual traditions despite the pressure to assimilate to the dominant culture and religion.

Students will be able to engage with the intellectual and theoretical contributions of marginalized communities, and contrast them with dominant perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast the artistic and intellectual contributions of Iberian Jews, Muslims, and Christians, taking into account their relative positions as dominant or marginalized communities.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class meetings and essays, students will handle the discussion of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender with sensitivity and attention to their own social and historical location.

In class discussions, students will be able to explain how political upheavals, wars, and religious laws impacted the production of art in medieval Spain.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced)

Students will effectively critique historical assessments of the period known as La Convivencia, and will be able to support a position on whether this period was truly one of religious tolerance.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Introduced)

Students will read and critically assess primary sources (including both texts and works of art) produced by Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Spain, and will be able to explain how each author's or artist's historical position influences his point of view.

Multicultural Perspectives

Demonstrate understanding of culture and cultural identities as dynamic rather than fixed categories, and describe the diverse ways in which they are produced, transformed, and maintained (Introduced)

Students will explain the artistic, religious, and cultural traditions of each of the three main ethnic groups - Jews, Muslims, and Christians - within medieval Spain, and will be able to compare these traditions with those of Muslims, Jews, and Christians in other communities and at other historical moments. In discussions, students will demonstrate an understanding of how these cultures and traditions shifted or adapted over time in response to political, religious, and economic pressures.

Describe how two or more ethnic groups have interacted in different historical contexts, and be able to discuss the dynamics of that relationship (Introduced)

Students will study the interactions between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in medieval Spain, and will be able to explain how these three groups treated and depicted one another under Muslim rule and under Christian rule.

Deploy the necessary critical tools to reflect on the artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions of marginalized groups-both nationally and internationally-and to appreciate the diversity of human thought and experience (Introduced)

Students will analyze the literary and artistic output of Sephardic Jews, a minority under both Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, and explain how the marginalized position of this group influenced their self-representation.

ARTH 134: Museum Studies Workshop (4 Credits)

This course will engage students in questions about the role of art museums as well as conceptual and logistical aspects of curatorial practices. In addition to weekly readings and written assignments, students will be expected to attend exhibitions and lectures in the San Francisco Bay Area. The final project will be a group-curated exhibition with an accompanying student researched and written exhibition catalogue.

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

ARTH 137: Art of the 20th Century (4 Credits)

The course explores primarily European and American art beginning in pre-war Paris, Moscow, Munich, Milan, Vienna, London, and New York. Internationally, artists were intrigued with the possibilities of abstraction. World Wars I and II, the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, the Weimar Republic, the American Depression, and the rise of European Fascism were contexts of further artistic movements. The course ends with late 20th-century art in various media and geographical locations.

Meets the following Gen Ed requirements: Creation and Criticism in the Arts, Historical Perspectives

Students will be able to look at art works from various moments in the 20th century, and be able to place it in its specific time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and art made for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Through reading a range of scholarship produced during the 20th century students will be able to assess differences in method between older and newer scholarship, and characterize those methods as well as address the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Practiced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts.

Students will understand the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia. They will value juried scholarship, and will acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 138: Contemporary Art (4 Credits)

In the context of the Cold War, the McCarthy period, and the explosive ’60s, American art and the American art market were dominant internationally. Over the next decades, however, a far more global picture of art making has evolved, partly through the expansion of international exhibitions in different parts of the world, in Asia, Africa, and South America, for example. This course will examine selected chapters of this complex history of contemporary art (post-WW II to the present), alternating between &quot;the local&quot; and &quot;the global&quot;.

Meets the following Core requirements: International Perspectives, Race, Gender & Power

Meets the following Gen Ed requirements: Creation and Criticism in the Arts

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

Through the lens of international art curation and artists who are engaged in the international art world, students will reflect on their own aesthetic preferences and cultural training and through the encounter gain new understanding of global perspectives.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will learn to examine art and artists internationally with a keen sense of global relations and values.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced)

This course is dedicated to the artistic production of artists from various nations and regions of the world, and through it students will acquire a familiarity with a rich range of international histories and geographies.

Race, Gender & Power

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced)

Through the study of global art production, students will gain familiarity with the function of race, gender and power in contemporary art exhibits.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced)

Through presentations and culminating projects students will learn how to communicate with greater sophistication and cultural sensitivity.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced)

Through their culminating projects students will both reflect and incorporate create methods.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced)

Through the study of selected individual artists' practices and their media, students will demonstrate familiarity with form, medium and gesture, and how these are situated within the context of international exhibitions.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced)

Students will utilize the vocabulary of art criticism vis-a-vis individual artists and their media, within the context of international exhibitions.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced)

Through oral presentations and class exchanges, students will demonstrate familiarity with such concepts as form, style, context and influence.

Understand or use collaborative techniques for the creation of an artistic or literary work (Introduced)

As pertinent, students will explore artists who engage in collaborative techniques within the context of the international exhibition.

ARTH 139K: History of Performance Art (0.25-1.25 Credits)

ARTH 171: AMERICAN BUILT ENVIRONMENT (0.25-1.25 Credits)

ARTH 176: HIST EUROPEAN PRINTMAKING (0.25-1.25 Credits)

ARTH 179: DIRECTED RESEARCH (0.25-1.25 Credits)

ARTH 180: Special Topics in Art History (4 Credits)

Exploration of themes and/or topics not offered as part of the regular curriculum. Course content to be determined by the instructor. May be repeated for credit when topics differ.

ARTH 180A: Visual Arts of the United States, 1830-1945 (3 Credits)

This course explores art in the U.S. in a period of rapid modernization. We consider how artists engaged the forces and anxieties of nation-building, westward expansion, Native-Euro contact, war, urbanization, industrialization, new class structures, mass communication, and consumer culture. The status of women, minorities, and immigrants as citizens and artists are a major focus. Taking a broad view of visual culture (murals, easel painting, sculpture, monuments, parks, architecture, urbanism, prints, photography), we examine artists’ efforts to define “American” art and culture.

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through readings, class discussions, image analysis, and written assignments, students will examine how various forms of art and visual culture in the United States have participated in the social construction and revision of race and gender identity categories.

Students will analyze the ways in which race and gender intersect with other identity categories including sexuality, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, citizenship and nationality. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through readings, class discussions, image analysis, and written assignments, students will examine how gender and class have intersected with issues of ethnicity, class, and Native and immigrant identities in the construction of American citizenship. The place of the arts in the cultural imagination and political negotiation of subjecthood and citizenship are major themes of the course.

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the ways that marginalized communities have resisted structures of power through social movements, civic engagement, artistic expression, and scholarship. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will learn about how women and racial-minority artists navigated the dominant structures of art and culture in the U.S.; defined themselves as artists vis-à-vis dominant models; and developed artistic practices, training academies, display venues, and professional support networks that challenged structural inequities in the production, display, and teaching of art.

Students will be able to engage with the intellectual and theoretical contributions of marginalized communities, and contrast them with dominant perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Texts and visual artworks by women and racial-minority artists will be a frequent focus of the course. Through discussion and written response assignments, students will learn to analyze them for their intellectual and theoretical contributions to American cultural discourse, and to contrast them with dominant perspectives in the American art world and cultural sphere.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions, group exercises, response papers, and presentations, students will practice identifying their own social locations and sources of bias, while building the skills of communicating across their differences.

General Education Goals:

Women and Gender

Demonstrate an awareness of the distinctive contributions of women to culture or history or science (Introduced)

Students will learn about how women artists navigated the dominant structures of art and culture in the U.S. and defined themselves as artists vis-à-vis dominant models.

Demonstrate awareness of the impact of race, class, national origin, and other significant differences as well as the commonalties in women's experience (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will examine how gender and class have intersected with issues of ethnicity, class, and Native and immigrant identities in the construction of American citizenship.

Demonstrate familiarity with theories of gender (Introduced)

Through readings and discussion, students will become familiar with intersectional feminism and gender theory.

Analyze current and past social issues pertaining to gender (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will bring to bear feminist and gender theories as they analyze the cultural and institutional constraints on women artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Demonstrate familiarity with the history and effects of feminist thought (Introduced)

Students will examine women artists' strategies to overcome the structural inequities in the production, display, and teaching of art in light of the history of feminism.

ARTH 180B: Art in Latin America and the Caribbean (3 Credits)

This course examines the art of ancient, colonial, and modern Latin American and the Caribbean. We address early contact between Europeans and indigenous cultures in Central and South America and the Caribbean; analyze how images served as powerful catalysts reflecting and constructing ideas of politics, religion, race, and gender; explore the independence era of the 19th century and the growing internationalism of the 20th; and consider the regionally specific developments of modernismo and the avant-garde. Field trips include SF MOMA, the de Young Museum, and Diego Rivera’s murals.

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will be able to articulate the materials and techniques deployed in Latin American and Caribbean mural painting and other painting media, architecture, prints, and sculpture.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will write a paper analyzing the stylistic shifts and changing socio-historical significance of murals in Mexico, reflecting on the Teotihuacan and Rivera murals as evidence.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

As they examine the use of the visual arts by colonial powers and learn how images intersect with ideas of politics, religion, race, and gender, students will be able to identify, analyze, and challenge the use of images as modes of propaganda or social control.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced)

Students will study the value systems of Pre-Columbian and Colonial era societies in Latin America, and will be able to articulate how the cultural, religious, and socioeconomic structures of these societies differ from our own.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study Pre-Columbian, colonial, and post-colonial art and visual culture in Latin America, supported by primary source readings (in translation) from those societies, and be able to identify regional and cultural differences in aesthetic values, style, and technique.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultures, belief systems, and visual expression of indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to identify and articulate the style characteristics of works of art produced by indigenous peoples of Latin America as well as the contribution of Latin American artists to the development of modernism.

ARTH 181: The Art of Mughal India (4 Credits)

The Sultanate and Mughal rulers of India brought miniature painting and brilliant manuscript illustrations from Persia to India and introduced a new visual aesthetic. In this course Imperial albums compiled for the Mughal emperors will be studied together with Rajput paintings of the Hindu maharajas. The Red Forts of Delhi and Agra, the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, and the illumined Taj Mahal will also be studied. The tenets of Islam will be considered in order to understand the significance and meaning of Moslem art in India.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and made for different purposes. They will recognize the essential difference between Hindu religious art and Mughal secular art, and the purposes for which each type of art was made.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration. They will also understand the contextual basis in which a work of art, whether architecture, painting, sculpture, or calligraphy, etc., was made.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Practiced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians, particularly colonial perspectives, with contemporary theories and perspectives, especially those that have emerged in the second half of the 20th Century, and given rise to post-colonial theories.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Practiced)

Students will learn the tools of research and the importance of acknowledging sources, whether they be from early published writings or from the internet. Respecting the authorship of ideas is an ethical responsibility, thus learning the basic rules of footnoting and acknowledging source material is important. Such sources can and should be the basis for students' own developing ideas.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Practiced)

Students will research Mughal and Rajput manuscripts and albums; they will give oral presentations and will be encouraged to share their experiences at meetings and gatherings. Some students will curate an exhibition of prints to be shown in the Art Museum upper gallery.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will engage in hands-on projects creating and designing Mughal and Rajput style manuscripts, which will reflect the distinct cultural differences that exist between cultures in India. Some of the projects will be collaborative, others will require students to create their own works of art.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced)

Students will create manuscripts in the Indian style and format, the subject matter will reflect contemporary issues in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal or Tibet); this will require them to think creatively and independently as they reflect upon early modern and contemporary values.
engage in Chinese calligraphic projects that will require them to think creatively and learn to control the brush. The will also be asked to conceptualize ways in which calligraphy can be used in different spaces for different purposes. (Knowledge of Chinese is not required, however, students will recognize different styles of calligraphy.)

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

Students will recognize the power of visual symbols. Through the use of image and text, they will produce works that can present their ideas about the persuasive nature of art.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Practiced)

Through reading, research, and visual analysis, students will come to understand that South Asian cultures are distinct and different from other Asian cultures, and in turn are different from American culture. Students will come to acknowledge and respect that there are multiple interpretations of cultures, religions, and values.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will receive an in depth knowledge of India during the Mughal period (mid-16th through mid-19th centuries) through studying Hindu and Islamic philosophies that have provided the foundation for their cultures, social systems, and values. Visual analysis of architecture (tombs, temples, libraries, urban planning) will give students insights into the distinct cultures of South Asia. Students will appreciate ancient rituals and celebrations that are still relevant in South Asian societies in the 21st century. The comparison of the developing values of a young country such as the United States with ancient South Asian cultures will provide ways of understanding different ways of thinking and the diversity that is the reality of human existence.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Practiced)

Students will be immersed in the world of Mughal India. They will study the Moslem art and architecture of the Sultans and Mughals of the 13th-mid-19th centuries, during which the indigenous Hindu Rajputs developed their art and architecture in response to foreign aesthetics and values. Students will be able to distinguish between Hindu art and architecture and Moslem art and architecture, in both instances the art and monuments informed distinct religions and rituals.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Practiced)

This course is centered on the art, architecture and religion of India (South Asia). Students will be immersed in the world of Mughal India. They will study the Moslem art and architecture of the Sultans and Mughals of the 13th-mid-19th centuries, during which the indigenous Hindu Rajputs developed their art and architecture in response to foreign aesthetics and values. Students will be able to distinguish between Hindu art and architecture and Moslem art and architecture, in both instances the art and monuments informed distinct religions and rituals.

Written & Oral Comm II

Students will develop skills in writing, digital presentation, and oral communication, as complementary and equal parts of college-level communication and literacy. (Practiced)

It is important for art historians to be able to write well, give public presentations of their work, and be able to use simultaneously digital technology (as Murphy's Law is inevitable when giving lectures, etc.), therefore students prepare weekly responses to specific art works, and working either independently or collaboratively, they present their findings. Through constant practice students develop confidence and find their voices.

Students will be able to move easily and fluently between different rhetorical expectations and formal registers. (Practiced)

Students will be able to determine when different professional and community discourses are called for and will be able to adapt rhetorically because they are being taught to read and understand the expectations of the author and the audience, and the limits of the message itself. This is particularly useful for art historians who are required to give public presentations of their research, and also be able to engage in seminar discussions, where the expectations of dialogue and the exchange of ideas is important.

Students will develop and refine their own voice and sense of style. (Practiced)

Students will learn how to present visual material to large audiences and to small seminars. They will learn that PowerPoints distract from the work of art that they are discussing, therefore, they must be prepared with Notes that can either be read (making eye contact with the audience), or free interpretations. Formal Art History papers given at conferences and in museums, etc. are limited by time, therefore, students must practice their presentations ahead of time. Through the several presentations that students make over the length of the semester they develop confidence in their presentations by knowing and preparing their work, and also by understanding their audience.

Students will practice and refine different forms of communication that are appropriate for the multiple contexts and disciplines that they engage with. (Practiced)

Art History has its own language and vocabulary that is reflected in both writing and speech. Students will learn that formal art history writing requires footnotes and endnotes (not parenthetical references). Writing also requires the inclusion of visual illustrations that must be referenced in the body of a text. In writing about Asian art history, whether it is Indian, Chinese or Japanese, knowledge of specific iconographic and religious vocabulary is required. Asian philosophies of aesthetics go back thousands of years preceding western developments, therefore, students must be aware of the history of thought and ideas in their writing and presentations.

Students will understand thoroughly the relationship between form and content, (Practiced)

In each discipline form and content is conceived differently. In art history it forms the basis of visual analysis. Form is how something looks. Content refers to the subject matter embodied in a work of art. Formal art history writing is technical writing. There are formats to be followed and practiced: comparative analyses requires close observations of different works of art, and the ensuing discussion of these works; reviews require critical analysis of how exhibitions, or books, are installed or written; interpretive analyses require in depth discussion of possible meanings; purpose, asks why a work of art was made and its function. Students will be familiar with all these tools and will use them in their own writings and presentations.

Students will understand the role of drafting, revising, presenting, and receiving, processing and using feedback as important parts of the writing process. (Practiced)

Writing and presentation are skills that students develop through constant and continual practice. Weekly written responses are critiqued with comments and returned to the students. Presentations of visual material using digital technology are required for which students receive feedback. Drafts, drafts, and more drafts are required for the research papers. Each student meets with me to decide on a topic. I help students narrow down and focus on a manageable subject, and direct them to sources for research. After this initial meeting students prepare outlines due by a specific date. Two drafts (at least) are required, then the formal presentation, followed by the finished paper. Students receive written feedback at each step.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced, Practiced)

Each student will engage in the creative process following the instructions for Rajput and Mughal iconography and attributes, and, through the process, will understand how a work of art comes into being.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will recognize the Sanskrit and Urdu terms for religious and secular imagery and demonstrate confidence in their powers of expression by utilizing an "Art Language" that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will recognize the Sanskrit and Urdu terms for religious and secular imagery and demonstrate confidence in their powers of expression by utilizing an "Art Language" that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Sultanate, Mughal or Rajput school, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made in the pre-modern era and understand why this is significant from an art historical perspective.

Students will know about forgeries, copies and appropriations and gain an awareness of the ethics concerning these issues.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to India's Independence (1947), students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of the colonial rulers of India and other Western powers with writings of the late 20th and early 21st century.

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Practiced)

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Multicultural Perspectives

Demonstrate understanding of culture and cultural identities as dynamic rather than fixed categories, and describe the diverse ways in which they are produced, transformed, and maintained (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will understand the cultural differences between Moslems and Hindus and their distinct cultural identities in greater South Asia. They will know the basic tenets of both Islam and Hinduism and how both cultures enriched the South Asian traditions through syntheses of their art, architecture, literature, music and dance, especially when the Rajputs were under the domination of the foreign Mughals. The Mughals in turn were dominated by the western powers. Students will realize that South Asia today is a result of syncretic beliefs and the diversity of many different cultures and ethnicities.

Describe how two or more ethnic groups have interacted in different historical contexts, and be able to discuss the dynamics of that relationship (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will know about the invasions of the Moslem Sultans in the eleventh century CE, and the establishment of Islam as a monolithic faith in greater South Asia that is very different from the indigenous Hindu belief system that honors multiple deities. They will be able to discuss the political intermarriages that took place bringing together Rajputs and Mughals, and the tensions and battles that inevitably arose between them.

Deploy the necessary critical tools to reflect on the artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions of marginalized groups-both nationally and internationally-and to appreciate the diversity of human thought and experience (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will recognize immediately the distinct art and architecture of the Hindu Rajputs and the Moslem Mughals. They will be able to analyze and discuss manuscripts and identify them as Rajput or Mughal by recognizing the different scripts and styles of paintings. They will also know immediately whether a monument is a Hindu temple or a Moslem mosque by their distinct forms and styles of architecture; furthermore, they will acknowledge that secular forts and palaces are syncretic in nature as they reflect the tastes and values of both Rajputs and Mughals.

ARTH 183: Advanced Seminar in Art History (4 Credits)

In-depth examination of and critical inquiry into a specific subject through shared readings, discussion, and written assignments. Course content to be determined by the instructor. May be repeated for credit when topics differ.

ARTH 185: Painting of China (4 Credits)

The painting of China from the Han to the Qing dynasty is studied and concludes with discussions of painting during the Cultural Revolution and contemporary works that are being produced in the People's Republic of China today. Critical texts on calligraphy, painting styles and forms, together with writings on theory and methodology, will be read.

Meets the following Gen Ed requirements: Creation and Criticism in the Arts, Historical Perspectives

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

ARTH 186: Japanese Painting and Prints (4 Credits)

The Tale of Genji and Heian court paintings, writing, and poetry are studied as they reveal the persistence of tradition and the development of an aesthetic that prevails in Japan’s visual arts. Ukiyo-e, woodblock prints of the Floating World, that reflected the popular tastes of Edo’s merchants, and stood in stark contrast to the refined tastes of the court, are studied in depth, together with contemporary literary works such as the samurai drama, Chushingura. Pureland Buddhism and Shinto are studied in order to understand the spiritual significance of Japanese aesthetic expression.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and art made for different purposes.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Practiced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians with contemporary theories, especially those that that emerged in the second half of the 20th Century.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Practiced)

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Practiced)

Students will engage in research on ukiyo-e (woodblock) prints in the Mills College Art Museum; they will give oral presentations and will be encouraged to share their experiences at meetings and gatherings. Some students will curate an exhibition of prints to be shown in the Art Museum upper gallery.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Practiced)

Students will study and observe the Japanese woodblock printing process in order to create their own prints, using basic materials and simple hand tools.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Practiced)

Students will study the techniques of Japanese woodblock ukiyo-e masters, and how they introduced a new way of observing the world. Such observations will inform the work they create, and will introduce them to different ways of thinking about perspective, space, and time, in producing two-dimensional works.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Practiced)

The ukiyo-e prints of Japan's Edo Period reflected popular culture and society. Students will learn how the discovery of the printing process was an important element in opening up Japanese society, and freeing the populace from the court and shogunate restraints. In turn they will realize how their own prints can be created to reflect contemporary issues.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Practiced)

Through reading, research, and visual analysis, students will come to understand that Japanese culture is distinct and different from other Asian cultures, and in turn is different from American culture. Students will come to acknowledge and respect that there are multiple interpretations of cultures, religions and values.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will be able to look at an image from the early Heian Period and the later Tokugawa/Edo period in Japan, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made. Students will recognize the court art and literature of the Heian (particularly the women's writings), and the Shogunate and Edoite art of the Tokugawa, and how distinctly different they are from literary and artistic endeavors in the West and the United States.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Practiced)

Students will be immersed in the history and culture of Japan. They will study the roots of indigenous animistic rituals that evolved into the native Shinto religion that is practiced today. They will also study the introduction of Buddhism from China and Korea, and how together with Shinto forged the Japanese national identity.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Practiced)

Students will be immersed in the study of Japan. They will study in depth the essentialist art of the Heian period when a native form of literature and art evolved, quite distinct from mainland Chinese and Korean influences. They will be able to distinguish between the art produced for the Heian court in the 11-12th centuries, and art made for the merchant society of Edo (Tokyo) in the 17th-mid-19th centuries.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will engage in the creative process by learning to brush (write) basic kanji, Chinese characters, and Japanese characters, in several different scripts, through this process they will come to understand the significance of line and space in Japanese aesthetics.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will know how to read a Japanese painted scroll, and also Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. They will demonstrate confidence in their powers of analysis in critiquing works from the Heian through the Edo periods.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will know and understand the fundamentals of Japanese aesthetic criticism that was developed during the Heian period. They will understand that there is an empowering "Art Language" that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, etc., must be taken into consideration.

Understand or use collaborative techniques for the creation of an artistic or literary work (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will work together on collaborative research projects and present their work together to their fellow students.

Students will analyze images from the early Heian period through the Meiji Period, and be able to place them in a historical framework, and contextualize their social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different periods and for different purposes.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early Heian writers with those of the later periods up to the 21st Century. Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 188: Early Japanese Art (4 Credits)

Shinto art and architecture is studied with a focus on the shrines at Ise and Izumo. In contrast early Chinese style Buddhist temples of Nara and Kyoto, and later Shingon temples of the Heian period are studied. The introduction from China of Ch’an Buddhism, known as Zen Buddhism in Japan, had a profound effect upon the aesthetic tastes of the court, and especially on ink paintings, raku ceramics, gardens, and the highly ritualized Cha-no-yu, tea ceremony. Shinto and Zen Buddhism are studied in order to understand the spiritual foundations of Japanese aesthetic expression.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different purposes.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Practiced)

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians with contemporary theories, especially those that that emerged in the second half of the 20th Century.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Practiced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Practiced)

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Practiced)

Students will engage in research on a Zen Buddhist topic; she will give an oral presentation and will be encouraged to share her experiences at meetings and gatherings.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced)

Students will make their own cha-wans (Japanese tea bowls). Students are introduced to the properties of clay, how to work it with their hands, and then how to form an object (in this case tea bowls), adorn them with relief designs, glaze and fire them. Students will also learn the importance of time and patience. Ceramic objects must sit for extended periods of time before firing, or they will explode in the kilns.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced)

In making their own cha-wans (Japanese tea bowls), students create individual bowls that reflect their own originality and inventiveness, as each one is necessarily distinctive and different.
are introduced to the properties of clay, how to work it with their hands, and then how to form an object (in this case tea bowls), adorn them with relief designs, glaze and fire them. Students will also learn the importance of time and patience. Ceramic objects must sit for extended periods of time before firing, or they will explode in the kilns.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced)

In making their own tea bowls students learn about originality and conformity, and how one informs the other. Although working in clay, students understand that the creative process applies across the arts to different media. In discovering how to make something out of raw materials leads to a sense of self-confidence and the inspiration to explore innovative ways of problem-solving.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Practiced)

Through reading, research, and visual analysis, students will come to understand that each culture in Asia is distinct and different from each other, and in turn different from American culture. Students will come to acknowledge and respect that there are multiple interpretations of cultures, religions and values.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Practiced)

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Japanese period, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made. Students will recognize the religious art of Shinto and Buddhism and their practice that are distinct from religious, social and cultural experiences in the West and the United States.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Practiced)

Students will be immersed in the earliest history and culture of Japan. They will study the roots of indigenous animistic rituals that evolved into the native Shinto religion that is practiced today. They will also study the introduction of Buddhism from China and Korea, and how it became intrinsically Japanese.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Practiced)

Students will be immersed in the study of Japan. They will study in depth the native animistic Shinto religion, and Buddhism that was introduced from China via Korea. They will be able to distinguish between the art produced for Shaka, Pure Land, Amida, Shingon, and Zen Buddhist practices.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced, Practiced)

Each student will actively engage in the creative perfomance of chanoyu, the ritual of tea, by participating in a formal Tea Ceremony, in order to understand the place of ritual in society.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to recognize the evolution in the use of different mediums of clay and paint. To recognize and articulate the significance of form and style in the development of nara-e, Japanese style, painting.

Students will be able to recognize and articulate the significance of form and style in the development of nara-e, Japanese style, painting.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will build confidence in their power of expression by understanding and using the Japanese terms for religious and secular imagery, and will be empowered by understanding that there is an "Art Language" that references how works of art are viewed and critiqued.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to use the basic tool of art historical analysis i.e. comparing and contrasting two or more images, in which form, style, period, medium, must be taken into consideration.

Understand or use collaborative techniques for the creation of an artistic or literary work (Introduced)

***Please remove this goal from this course. Although there may be some collaborative readings. It is not a priority in this course.

Students will be able to look at an image from any early Japanese period, and be able to place it in a dynastic time, and to contextualize the social, political, religious or secular, and historical environment in which it was made.

Students will know about forgeries, copies and appropriations and gain an awareness of the ethics concerning these issues.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish a work of art made in the modern era from one made a thousand or more years ago and understand why this is significant from an art historical perspective.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast works of art from different eras and for different purposes.

Through reading critically sources written prior to World War II, students will be able to compare and contrast the cultural perspectives and interpretations of early art historians with contemporary theories, especially those that that emerged in the second half of the 20th Century.

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts and the power of interpretation according to authorship.

Students will use sources carefully, especially the Internet and Wikipedia, value juried scholarship, and acknowledge all sources of information.

ARTH 190: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Art (4 Credits)

This seminar explores two interrelated topics: how women artists revolutionized a male-dominated art world in the past 50 years, and how gender and sexuality became central themes of contemporary art. Starting with the late 1960s, we will study: feminism’s intersections with conceptual art, minimalism, postmodernism, and social practice art; the constant renovation of painting, sculpture, and photography through feminist and queer perspectives; and the profound cultural effects of the reimagining of gender, sexuality, and identity in contemporary art and art scholarship.

Note(s): First year students may enroll with the instructor's consent.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In response papers and class discussions, students will critically assess theory and scholarship that seeks to develop feminist and queer perspectives on art making, and scholarship that treats gender and sexuality as artistic subjects. They will explain the strengths and weaknesses of each author's argument and evidence, evaluating sources for bias, and assessing the applicability of these methods or theories to the discipline as a whole.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

In weekly readings, students will explore issues of gender and sexuality in contemporary art from multiple perspectives, and will evaluate those perspectives in response papers and presentations.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast recent models of theorizing gender and sexuality in art with older models, with special attention to the evolution of identity-based models of art-making and art-historical scholarship to more recent concepts of “queering” art and scholarship by challenging their modes of production. The strengths and limitations of that evolution for critical analysis will be explored and debated in class discussions.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In response papers and class presentations on texts, students will explain how different authors' methodological and theoretical stances shape the questions they ask in visual and historical analysis and their methods of answering those questions.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

In developing a research paper through proposal, annotated bibliography, draft, and final paper, students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and synthesize sources, apply them to historical and visual analysis, and properly cite sources.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will attend two intellectual events (typically a public lecture and an art opening).

Students may interview an artist or a scholar in our community to discover how their career and methods of practice have been shaped by the feminist art movement and/or gender or sexuality theory.

Race, Gender & Power

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through readings, class discussions, and analytical assignments, students will examine how feminist and queer art movements since the 1960s have explored and addressed gender and race as social constructs, and how they have informed cultural debate about the cultural construction of identity.

Students will study how essentialist notions of identity were challenged, revised, and replaced in recent decades by understandings of gender, race, and sexuality as dynamic and socially constructed in the fields of art-making and art history.

Through readings, class discussions, and analytical assignments, students will examine and understand the historical, theoretical, and practical differences among identity-based art-making; gender and race as categories of analysis; and gender, race, and sexuality as artistic subjects.

Students will analyze the ways in which race and gender intersect with other identity categories including sexuality, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, citizenship and nationality. (Introduced, Practiced)

In readings and response papers, students will examine how feminist and queer art movements have addressed, incorporated, and been divided by categories of race, ethnicity, age, disability, and citizenship.

In readings and response papers, students will examine how the feminist art movement in the United States has been challenged to grow more intersectional and internationally oriented in its concerns and advocacy.

Students will examine, through readings, artworks, and analytical assignments, how gender theory and sexuality theory both differ from each other and have informed each other.

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the ways that marginalized communities have resisted structures of power through social movements, civic engagement, artistic expression, and scholarship. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will learn how feminist and queer art movements have challenged institutions of art (museums, the art market, art criticism, art education), how they have used art as an activist tool and a means of visibility, and how they have challenged and created new modes of art-historical scholarship.

Students will be able to engage with the intellectual and theoretical contributions of marginalized communities, and contrast them with dominant perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and response papers, students will engage and analyze the intellectual, creative, and political dimensions of feminist and queer theories in the arts, and contrast them with dominant perspectives in the art world and its institutions.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions, group exercises, response papers, and presentations, students will practice identifying their own social locations and sources of bias, while building the skills of communicating across their differences.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Practiced)

Students will engage in the creative process in class discussion and written work by analyzing artworks to show how the visual elements (line, shape, color, space, etc.) work to create artistic form and content.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Practiced)

Students will demonstrate in class discussions, oral reports and written work their understanding of artistic concepts by analyzing art made by women artists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Practiced)

Students will demonstrate in class discussions, oral reports and written work their understanding of artistic concepts by analyzing creative work by women artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Practiced)

Students will identify correctly and compare the similarities and differences between the styles of women artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in discussions and written work.

Understand or use collaborative techniques for the creation of an artistic or literary work (Practiced)

Understand the value of collaboration through group projects and critique.

ARTH 191: Seminar: Contemporary Art of Asia (4 Credits)

Asia has experienced severe ruptures with the past, and cultural values formed over millennia have been discarded. China replaced its dynastic tradition with Communism; Japan emerged from a feudal period of isolation to become a leading economic power; India and Indonesia cast off colonial ties and declared their independence. The focus of this seminar will be on the work of artists as critical observers of contemporary Asian society.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will read, study, and analyze primary and secondary written sources and images. In a written assignment they will evaluate a primary written source for evidence of authorial bias and explain how the author's point of view impacts the reliability of his/her evidence and conclusions. In a written assignment, students will also critically analyze a work of art from multiple points of view, demonstrating their understanding of the fact that a naturalistic work of art, however, realistic, is a constructed representation meant to express meaning rather than a reflection of an authentic reality.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

In discussions and exams, students will analyze works of art both from the Western and Eastern perspectives and from the perspectives of the culture that created the works; and they will be able to explain how difference cultures respond to art from different cultures. For instance students will look at art made by artists in China or India today, and compare it with art being made by Indian American and Chinese American artists. They will be able to discern discreet differences in style, approach, and subject matter.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explore through discussions informed by readings, how the world is perceived in different cultures, and how art gives opportunities for artists to express their ideas, but these are often curtailed by political censorship. Freedom of expression is not a given in other areas of the world.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explore different theoretical and methodological approaches to interpretation (such as iconography, stylistic analysis, and the treatment of perspective and space) through class discussions, quizzes and written responses. Students will be able to articulate how scholars examining works from a variety of perspectives ask different questions and arrive at different answers regarding the significance of a work of art.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will write papers in which they will use scholarly research methods, assessing the reliability of their sources, and properly acknowledging all sources used.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be graded in part on their class participation and their active intellectual contribution to class discussions of readings and issues raised during lectures. Students will also attend at least one art-related College event, such as a lecture in the Studio Art Series, the Jane Green Endowed Lecture, etc., and will be required to write a review.

Create, Innovate & Experiment

Students will extend their creative strengths and skills. (Introduced, Practiced)

In studying the art that is being made in Asia today, students will gain an appreciation of how artists think globally. Students will design and create an artwork (painting, sculpture, or performance) that reflects international, and in particular Asian, sensibilities.

Students will design or produce work that demonstrates independent thinking, originality, and inventiveness. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will design and create an artwork (painting, sculpture, or performance) that reflects international, and in particular Asian, sensibilities. Their critique will be the realization that cultural values pertain in different areas of the world, and can be discerned in their own creative works.

Students will produce innovative solutions to real-world problems. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will discover through their own creative works, that art can be used to reach across international boundaries. They will recognize that visual language reaches across spoken language barriers.

International Perspectives

Students will reflect on their value systems and way of understanding the world and understand that these are not universal. (Introduced, Practiced)

In discussions and written assignments, students will explain the relationship between a work of art and the aesthetic criteria of the culture that created it. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the fact that cultural values and aesthetic concepts are not universal, and they will articulate how our western cultural values differ from those of eastern societies.

Students will analyze the history, arts, politics, language, economy of a non-Western national context using scholarly or creative perspectives from the culture being studied and demonstrate the ability to contrast these with dominant US perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will learn to situate a work of art within the political, economic, and cultural climate of the society that produced it, and will explain how the work of art functions within this context. In discussions students will explain how the aesthetic preferences, creative and artistic technologies, and ideologies of different Asian cultures are distinct from each other, and in turn differ from our own.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of at least one ethnic or national group and its experiences outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be introduced to Chinese, Japanese, and Indian ways of thinking and knowledge, through readings, observations, and study of the visual art and culture of these nations. Students will be aware that each Asian nation is distinct with its own culture, aesthetics, religions, politics and values. They will also learn how different such cultures are from Western cultures, and particularly from US culture.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of intellectual and/or creative contributions from at least one culture, country, or region outside of the United States. (Introduced, Practiced)

Tests, written in-class responses, and papers will test students' knowledge of the primary media, artistic technologies, artists, and major artworks of contemporary India, China and Japan.

Written & Oral Comm II

Students will develop skills in writing, digital presentation, and oral communication, as complementary and equal parts of college-level communication and literacy. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through weekly in-class written responses on relevant contemporary Asian Art, students will develop critical and analytical ways of writing. Through discussion of required texts students will gain confidence in their abilities to give voice to their ideas and critiques of works of art. Students will will also give digital presentations of their work.

Students will be able to move easily and fluently between different rhetorical expectations and formal registers. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students through translations will recognize primary and secondary sources, and to work through the anomalies of transliterated Asian texts, principally Indian (Hindi and Urdu), Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), and Japanese.

Students will develop and refine their own voice and sense of style. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through oral and digital presentations students will gain confidence in their own voices. Also, through regular classroom discussions students will learn to voice their ideas, and they will also learn to listen thoughtfully to their colleagues.

Students will practice and refine different forms of communication that are appropriate for the multiple contexts and disciplines that they engage with. (Introduced, Practiced)

In the discipline of Art History students will learn the tools of the trade that require them to present their work in public settings (museums, lecture halls, galleries, etc.). This necessitates them building confidence in their abilities to speak in public and at the same time to navigate digital and web-based technology in a seamless way.

Students will understand thoroughly the relationship between form and content, (Introduced, Practiced)

Form and content are the basis of stylistic analysis. Students will know how an art object is made (painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.) i.e. its 'form.' They will understand its 'content' by distinguishing what it is through iconographic and stylistic analysis, and what it represents.

Students will understand the role of drafting, revising, presenting, and receiving, processing and using feedback as important parts of the writing process. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students write weekly responses to unknown works of art. They read each other's work and suggest edits and changes. Formal revisions are made by the instructor.
Research term papers go through a rigorous vetting from inception to completion. Topics are discussed and agreed upon with the instructor. An abstract, and two drafts are written that receive feedback, before the final paper is presented.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Mastered)

Students will visit exhibitions and artists' studios to observe the creative process, and learn to analyze and think critically about the creative process.

Demonstrate familiarity with important artistic concepts (such as medium, form, device, and gesture) in at least one art form, or create and present her own artistic work by applying these concepts in her medium of choice (Mastered)

Students will become familiar with the different art mediums: painting, 3-dimensional work, installations and site specific work. They will learn to observe the differences in medium and the potential for diverse expression governed by specific mediums.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Mastered)

Students will learn the specific iconographic vocabulary used to analyze a work of art by content, context, style, date, and medium, etc.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Mastered)

Students will write critical analyses of works of art, taking into consideration genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence.

Understand or use collaborative techniques for the creation of an artistic or literary work (Mastered)

Students will learn how artists work collaboratively to produce public works of art, from the inception of an idea through to the final installation.

Students will become aware of the different political and national situations that distinguish and separate each of the Asian nations. They will become particularly aware of the impacts of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, WW I and WW 2, and how these world events have shaped artistic responses.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Mastered)

Students will be able to recognize the differences and reasons for art made in the mid-20th century and the 21st century.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Mastered)

Students will learn how certain societal values have changed over time, yet in Asia cultural and religious values underlie the art made today.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Mastered)

Students will read contemporary reviews and critiques of modern and contemporary art; they will learn to distinguish between responsible writing and the majority of web-based writing on art.

Multicultural Perspectives

Demonstrate understanding of culture and cultural identities as dynamic rather than fixed categories, and describe the diverse ways in which they are produced, transformed, and maintained (Mastered)

Through studying the art of the different Asian nations, students will discuss and write on the art of different cultures, and present their work for discussion. They will demonstrate the ways in which art reflects the ethnic background of many artists.

Demonstrate knowledge of the history of racial and ethnic formation and stratification in national and transnational contexts, considering the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality (Mastered)

Students will look at art from the different Asian countries and analyze the specificity of said art that reflects their diverse cultures and values. They will also recognize the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality that has become evident in the 21st century.

Describe how two or more ethnic groups have interacted in different historical contexts, and be able to discuss the dynamics of that relationship (Mastered)

Students will study the social and ethnic rivalries that have occurred over the millennia between mainland China and insular Japan, and the political consequences in the 20th century. They will discuss how these tensions have been demonstrated in their art that is being made today.

Deploy the necessary critical tools to reflect on the artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions of marginalized groups-both nationally and internationally-and to appreciate the diversity of human thought and experience (Mastered)

Through readings, viewings, and discussions, students will become familiar with the traditions of marginalized groups in India and Japan, and how these groups have expressed their frustrations, activism and hopes through political art making.

This seminar explores how ideas about gender and gender roles influenced the form and production of Western art. We will interrogate connections between representation and notions of masculinity/femininity, motherhood, beauty, and sin; and reconsider women artists’ oeuvres in light of gender theory and feminism. Case studies will explore how our chosen methodology may radically alter our understanding of a work of art and the culture that produced it. While the course focuses on medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art, students' individual projects may be drawn from a wider time period.

Note(s): First year students may enroll only with permission of the instructor.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced, Mastered)

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Women's Studies Program Goals

Understand contributions of women to cultures and histories. (Mastered)

In written assignments and class discussions, students will demonstrate an understanding of the contribution of women to European culture between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Students will articulate the particular challenges faced by female artists in a patriarchal society and incorporate their conclusions into their analysis of the oeuvres of important women artists including Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi.

Art History Program Goals

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Practiced, Mastered)

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Practiced)

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Women's Studies Program Goals

Understand the differences as well as the commonalities of women's experiences. (Practiced)

Students will identify and describe the continuities and discontinuities between past and present notions of gender and sexuality. Students will articulate how cultural assumptions regarding gender impacted image-making in medieval and early modern Europe.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and written assignments, students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of art as a constructed object whose meanings are shaped by its context and by its viewers, and will be able to critically analyze and articulate a plausible interpretation of a work of art.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through primary source readings, scholarly essays, and analysis of images, students will consider how medieval and Renaissance societies defined notions like motherhood, femininity/masculinity, and beauty, and will compare and contrast those notions with our present understanding of these concepts.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explore how the concepts like beauty or masculinity were constructed by medieval and Renaissance Europeans, and will be able to identify continuities and discontinuities with our own cultural values and norms, especially as they are reflected in art historical scholarship and visual culture.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will examine traditional and more recent critical approaches to learn how the deployment of different methodological and theoretical frameworks can shape our understanding of a work of art and its significance, and they will apply those learnings to their own analysis of works of art.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and authorial bias.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will contribute to the classroom as an intellectual community by engaging regularly in ­class discussions of readings and works of art.

Race, Gender & Power

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced, Practiced)

In their analysis of works of art, students will explore how shared notions of gender and sexuality were constructed by and reflected in the visual culture of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Europe, and will recognize the differences between our own culture's understanding of gender and sexuality and those of the past.

Students will analyze the ways in which race and gender intersect with other identity categories including sexuality, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, citizenship and nationality. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will explore how religious and political structures intersected with constructs of gender and sexuality in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and they will be able to explain how certain common tropes (women as types for either Eve or the Virgin Mary, associations between poverty and virtue or vice) shaped portraiture and the representation of men and women of different social classes.

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the ways that marginalized communities have resisted structures of power through social movements, civic engagement, artistic expression, and scholarship. (Introduced)

Through the study of the work and lives of women artists and writers in the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, students will be able to articulate how some women subverted traditional expectations and overcame professional barriers through the production of art and literature as well as careful self-promotion.

Students will be able to engage with the intellectual and theoretical contributions of marginalized communities, and contrast them with dominant perspectives. (Introduced)

Students will closely study the writings of women intellectuals and the work of women artists to articulate how women's views of femininity and virtue differed from the dominant male perspective.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced, Practiced)

In class discussions and written assignments, students will demonstrate an understanding of how their own social and intellectual location informs their interpretation of works of art, and will communicate effectively and respectfully across differences in the classroom.

Written & Oral Comm II

Students will develop skills in writing, digital presentation, and oral communication, as complementary and equal parts of college-level communication and literacy. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will develop and explore a research topic, discuss preliminary ideas with their peers at multiple phases, and communicate their findings in both an oral presentation using digital slides and a research paper.

Students will be able to move easily and fluently between different rhetorical expectations and formal registers. (Introduced, Practiced)

In Critical Analysis of Source assignment, students will carefully analyze a piece of scholarly writing and examine the rhetorical strategies that contribute to successful writing in a formal register, and will practice deploying the formal register in their own writing.

Students will develop and refine their own voice and sense of style. (Introduced, Practiced)

In a written visual analysis and a research paper, students will have multiple opportunities to refine their own authorial voice and style in scholarly writing.

Students will practice and refine different forms of communication that are appropriate for the multiple contexts and disciplines that they engage with. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will examine a variety of disciplinary examples, and will use these examples as models to refine their own discussions, papers, and presentations of their research ideas and conclusions.

Students will understand thoroughly the relationship between form and content, (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the discussion of scholarly examples and through their own writing and presentations, students will refine their understanding of how the form of written and oral expression influences the content and reception of that expression, and will be able to draw parallels with visual expression.

Students will understand the role of drafting, revising, presenting, and receiving, processing and using feedback as important parts of the writing process. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will act as both editor and author in writing workshops, demonstrating the ability to give, receive, and respond to constructive feedback and to reconcile or prioritize editorial suggestions. Students will produce multiple drafts of at least two writing projects during the semester.

General Education Goals:

Creating & Critiquing Arts

Engage with the creative process, either actively or critically (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will engage critically with the creative process by evaluating the style, form, and significance of artworks produced in the western visual tradition.

Students will engage actively in the creative process by developing virtual exhibitions that express course themes. Students will draw upon the creative modes of the past to communicate ideas, events, or beliefs in pictorial or written form.

Use the basic vocabulary fundamental to the criticism of art in her medium of choice, whether her own work or that of others (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will demonstrate fluency in art historical vocabulary and in the methods of formal analysis in class discussions, exams, and written assignments.

Construct a response to an artistic work that incorporates some of the following issues: genre, form and style, context, reception, aesthetics, or influence (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will use the tools of art historical analysis to compare and contrast two or more images, taking into account form, style, period, and medium.

Students will draw upon the course materials (lectures, readings, and discussions) to construct an independent and plausible interpretation of a work of art not previously studied.

In written assignments and discussions, students will be able to identify primary versus secondary sources. Students will cite these sources correctly, identify the author's interpretive or theoretical method if appropriate, and offer a balanced critique of an author's biases, assumptions, and evidence.

Students will closely read primary sources, and will assess how each author’s goals and biases (explicit or implicit) shape these accounts.

Women and Gender

Demonstrate awareness of the impact of race, class, national origin, and other significant differences as well as the commonalties in women's experience (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to identify and describe continuities and discontinuities between past and present notions of gender and sexuality in discussions and written assignments.

In written assignments and discussions, students will identify and describe similarities and differences in past and present assumptions about what is “natural”, and will articulate how these assumptions impact the production and reception of images.

In written assignments and discussions, students will describe the interrelationship between gender norms and various political, religious, cultural, and economic contexts, and will articulate how race, class, religion, and nationality impact image-making.

Students will closely read recent art-historical scholarship that employs the tools of feminism and gender theory, and will critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological and theoretical approaches to images and art production.

Analyze current and past social issues pertaining to gender (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the extent to which notions of gender and ideas of what is “natural” are culturally determined. In discussions and assignments, students will clearly explain how these constructs impact the production, form, and display of art.

Demonstrate familiarity with the history and effects of feminist thought (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will analyze both traditional and feminist scholarship on given works of art to critically evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and use of evidence of various methodological approaches.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the continuing impact of feminist thought and gender theory on the discipline of art history by explaining specific instances in which these approaches 1) have impacted our understanding and interpretation of canonical artworks, and 2) have forced a reevaluation of the canon or paved the way for new lines of inquiry.

ARTH 193: Seminar: The Image and the Law (4 Credits)

This is a seminar intended to develop students' critical thinking, writing, and research skills through the close examination of case studies of art and the law. We will consider both domestic and international issues that impact the visual arts, such as freedom of expression, copyright and intellectual property, public funding for the arts, and cultural heritage.

Meets the following Core requirements: Critical Analysis, Written and Oral Communication II

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Introduced, Practiced)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Introduced, Practiced)

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Practiced)

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

In in-class discussions, students will analyze how legal frameworks (such as legislation on artists' rights) promote or discourage art-making and foster or undermine the rights of artists, collectors, and other stakeholders in the art world.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will study and be able to explain the pros and cons of various legal systems and structures that impact art and artists, such as the French vs. the American approach to artists' rights. Students will understand the trade-offs involved in different systems, taking into account the perspectives of artists, galleries, collectors, and other stakeholders.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast legal systems and structures of the past (such as early approaches to the regulation of copying) and our own modes of regulation, explaining how different systems can promote or discourage the production of art.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will discuss how the point of view and interests of various stakeholders (the viewing public, politicians, museums, artists) lead them to take different and often conflicting views regarding art. For instance, students will interrogate how the stance of different groups of viewers towards nudity in art is shaped by their values and beliefs.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will be able to distinguish primary from secondary sources and use them appropriately in written work. Students will evaluate sources for reliability and properly cite their sources in papers.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will participate fully in in­ class discussions and exercises, sharing their thoughts, opinions, and learnings with their classmates and contributing to the group's analysis of legal principles and issues.

Written & Oral Comm II

Students will develop skills in writing, digital presentation, and oral communication, as complementary and equal parts of college-level communication and literacy. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through written papers, editing exercises, class discussions, and one oral presentation, students will develop their skills of communication.

Students will be able to move easily and fluently between different rhetorical expectations and formal registers. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will demonstrate the ability to adapt rhetorically to different modes of communication (written, polished oral presentation, informal class discussion) and will use language and rhetoric appropriate to these different forms.

Students will develop and refine their own voice and sense of style. (Introduced, Practiced)

In readings, students will explore how different forms (the court opinion, the op-ed, the journal article) use the formal aspects of writing to assert and support an argument.

Students will practice and refine different forms of communication that are appropriate for the multiple contexts and disciplines that they engage with. (Introduced, Practiced)

Through written exercises and editing exercises, students will practice making and supporting their own arguments, developing their own voice and using a formal register appropriate to a scholarly essay.

Students will understand thoroughly the relationship between form and content, (Introduced, Practiced)

Through the analysis of different readings, students will learn how the organization and formal aspects of writing impact the effectiveness of the author's argument.

Students will understand the role of drafting, revising, presenting, and receiving, processing and using feedback as important parts of the writing process. (Introduced, Practiced)

Students will provide peer-review of at least two written assignments for classmates, providing constructive feedback using a rubric provided by the instructor. Students will incorporate peer feedback in revised drafts of their own papers.

Students will be able to explain how the historical circumstances of museum and private collecting intersect with current legal issues surrounding the ownership of art and artifacts.

Students will be able to explain how controversies in the visual arts (such as copying, charges of obscenity, or questions of freedom of speech) have been handled or addressed in different historical periods.

Recognize both differences and similarities between past eras and the present (Practiced)

Students will be able to compare and contrast the effects of different policies and legal tests applied in different periods.

Critique existing analyses of earlier eras (Practiced)

Students will think critically about how different policies, legislation, and court decisions impact the production and display of the visual arts.

After analyzing past and present systems and policies, students will develop and articulate their well-informed opinions about appropriate and effective policies that foster a flourishing visual art culture.

ARTH 199: Critical and Theoretical Approaches to the History of Art (4 Credits)

This seminar explores the historical development of art history, criticism, and theory by studying selected examples of scholarly writings on the history of art. We will examine various approaches including formalist, iconographic, social, feminist, queer, and Marxist interventions in the history of art. This course serves as the capstone course in the art history major, but is also open to other students who wish to study a variety of interpretive and critical approaches to art and interpretation.

Note(s): Required for senior art history majors; open to juniors and seniors from other disciplines with the consent of the instructor.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Mastered)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Mastered)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Mastered)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will correctly identify the theoretical approach(es) employed by a scholar in an article, book, or essay relevant to the period under investigation.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

Core Goals:

Critical Analysis

Students will critically analyze information and ideas. (Practiced)

In weekly response papers and class discussions, students will critically assess scholarship that addresses a wide variety of methodologies and theories, explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each author's argument and evidence, evaluating sources for bias, and assessing the applicability of these methods or theories to the discipline as a whole.

Students will examine issues from multiple perspectives. (Practiced)

In weekly readings, students will explore issues (for instance, Style or Feminism) from multiple perspectives, and they will articulate their own thoughts on those readings in weekly response papers.

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between past systems of knowledge and present scholarly and creative approaches within and across disciplines. (Practiced)

Students will compare and contrast recent scholarship in the discipline with older scholarship, articulating the strengths and limitations of each approach, and exploring how the field has evolved (or has failed to evolve) to address new questions and approach.

Students will consider how our understanding of significant questions and ideas is informed by the critical, scholarly, and creative approaches through which we approach those questions and ideas. (Practiced, Mastered)

In a weekly response paper, students will explain how different authors' methodological and theoretical stances shape the questions they ask of an image and their interpretation of it.

Students will develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information. (Practiced, Mastered)

In weekly papers, annotated bibliographies, and a final paper, students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and synthesize sources and to properly acknowledge sources.

Students will engage as active participants in the College's intellectual community. (Practiced)

Students will attend two intellectual events (typically a public lecture and an art opening).

Race, Gender & Power

Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze race and gender as socially constructed, dynamic identity categories related to systems of power and privilege. (Introduced)

Through readings and class discussions, students will engage with the idea of race and gender as socially constructed, and will demonstrate an understanding of how those concepts have been applied in the study and production of art.

Students will analyze the ways in which race and gender intersect with other identity categories including sexuality, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, citizenship and nationality. (Introduced)

Students will discuss readings on gender and queer theory, ethnicity, post-colonial theory, feminism, and Marxism and economic theory, and will explain how the tools of these critical systems can be used to analyze and interpret a variety of forms of visual expression.

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the ways that marginalized communities have resisted structures of power through social movements, civic engagement, artistic expression, and scholarship. (Introduced)

In response papers, students will discuss the history of feminism, queer studies, and post-colonial theory, and will demonstrate an understanding of how marginalized peoples have used art to subvert, question, or resist political, economic, and gender-based constraints.

Students will be able to engage with the intellectual and theoretical contributions of marginalized communities, and contrast them with dominant perspectives. (Introduced)

In response papers, students will compare and contrast traditional art historical analyses with the writings of feminist or queer artists/art historians, explaining how these scholars' critique of traditional approaches to the discipline shapes their own understanding of works of art.

Students will communicate effectively across differences with an understanding of their own social location. (Introduced)

In class discussions and writings, students will demonstrate sensitivity to their own social location and sources of bias.

Written & Oral Comm II

Students will develop skills in writing, digital presentation, and oral communication, as complementary and equal parts of college-level communication and literacy. (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will produce a substantive research paper and a polished oral presentation with visual aids (typically digital slides) to effectively communicate an argument. Students will adapt their message and evidence to these different modes of communication.

Students will be able to move easily and fluently between different rhetorical expectations and formal registers. (Practiced, Mastered)

In their research papers, students will demonstrate an understanding of the differences between the formal, scholarly tone expected of a scholarly essay and the more informal register of response papers, and be able to communicate effectively in each of these registers.

Students will develop and refine their own voice and sense of style. (Practiced, Mastered)

Students will develop their own authorial voice in weekly responses, incorporating their learnings into their final, polished research paper.

Students will practice and refine different forms of communication that are appropriate for the multiple contexts and disciplines that they engage with. (Practiced)

Students will practice their skills in discussion, formal analysis, scholarly writing, and oral presentation through a variety of assignments.

Students will understand thoroughly the relationship between form and content, (Practiced, Mastered)

Through their own papers and the analysis of scholarly writings, students will develop an understanding of how form and rhetoric can enhance or undermine an argument; students will learn to employ proper citation styles for the discipline of art history and to make appropriate use of written and formal/visual evidence to support a clearly defined argument.

Students will understand the role of drafting, revising, presenting, and receiving, processing and using feedback as important parts of the writing process. (Practiced)

Students will produce a preliminary paper topic, an abstract, a draft, and a final version of their research papers. They will practice editing their own work as well as that of their peers in two writing workshops. Students will evaluate and incorporate feedback into their final draft.

Students will learn to trace patterns of thinking in a wide range of historical writings.

Use critical tools to assess historical source materials (Introduced)

Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary texts.

Students will understand the power of interpretation according to authorship

ARTH 239K: History of Performance Art (0.25-1.25 Credits)

ARTH 286: Japanese Painting and Prints (4 Credits)

This course traces the persistence of tradition and the development of an aesthetic that prevails in Japan's visual arts. Heian court paintings that include the Tale of Genji, which were to influence Japanese aesthetics to the present day, will be studied. Ukiyo-e, woodblock prints of Floating World that reflect the popular tastes of Edo's merchants, will also be studied.

Understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts in which art is created. (Mastered)

Student will incorporate historical, political, and cultural context in offering a plausible explanation for the response of contemporary or later viewers to a work of visual art.

Student will explain the function or significance of a work of visual art within its historical context.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that shape a period style, an artist’s individual style, a medium, or a mode of display.

Student will correctly identify the major historical, political, and cultural events that impact the form, significance, or mode of display of visual art.

Be able to analyze and critique works of art. (Mastered)

Student will correctly attribute a work of art to a given period style, artist, or school.

Student will appropriately use the vocabulary of formal analysis to describe and analyze a work of visual art.

Student will correctly articulate the key characteristics associated with the period styles, major artists, media, or schools relevant to the period under investigation.

Understand a variety of art historical theories and approaches. (Mastered)

Student will analyze a work of art using a methodological or theoretical approach appropriate to the given artist, historical period, medium, or genre.

Student will clearly define and articulate the key elements of different theoretical approaches, such as iconography or feminist theory.

ARTH 293: Seminar: The Image and the Law (4 Credits)

This is a seminar intended to develop students' critical thinking, writing, and research skills through the close examination of case studies of art and the law. We will consider both domestic and international issues that impact the visual arts, such as freedom of expression, copyright and intellectual property, public funding for the arts, and cultural heritage.